Lenovo teases its bendable smartphone again; October launch likely

Lenovo has teased an announcement flaunting a flexible smartphone. This isn't the first time the company has showcased the device, it introduced a bendable wrist-phone back 2016. The device, however, never made it to the market so the latest teaser could be another PR stunt on the same grounds.

In a video posted by Lenovo's Weibo account, what seems to be a functional bendable smartphone is briefly demoed. The phone can be seen allowing touch inputs and scroll gestures even when bent at an 80-degree angle. A few dark spots can be seen on the screen. While they could be due to demonstration abuse, one spot is clearly centered directly on the bend.

The post reads "Let's see you in October," but there was no mention of a specific date. Abacus News has a more accurate translation: "We are just so terribly good. It's time to show off."

In June, Lenovo owned Motorola also filed for a new patent with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Patent suggests that heat could be the solution to permanent screen damage from folding.

The patent was first filed in 2016 and was published June 14 this year, under publication number 20180164854. It appears to cover several separate processes to the proposed solution. this will include a method to measure the screen folding, duration of the fold, and the temperature of the display. The portion would be applicable to whichever section is held at an angle since the patent images show how it can be used with a phone with multiple fold points.

The idea here seems to be that heating a portion of the display will make it less susceptible to long-term damage from folding. The new technology will also use a method to track the degree to which the fold is occurring. It will also figure out exactly how long the materials should be able to handle the fold without changing shape.

The company has been poised to bring several industry-first products to the table. It previously launched its first 15-inch virtual reality-ready mobile workstation. Dubbed ThinkPad P52, the laptop comes with top-of-the-line features. It features an eighth-generation Intel Xeon six-core processor, a Nvidia Quadro P3200 discrete graphics chip, and a whopping 128GB of system memory.